Georgia and Texas sit at the top of 247Sports’ SEC preseason poll, and the gap between them is razor thin.
The SEC sites in the 247Sports network gave Georgia the No. 1 spot in the conference heading into 2026, but only by the slimmest of margins. The Bulldogs collected seven first-place votes, while Texas picked up five. That kind of split tells the story of the league’s preseason outlook: no runaway favorite, just a crowded race at the top.
Ole Miss and Texas A&M were tied for third, adding to the sense that the SEC’s upper tier is packed tight. Alabama, Oklahoma, LSU and Tennessee followed to complete the top eight. At the other end, Mississippi State, Kentucky and Arkansas landed at the bottom of the poll.
Georgia enters the year as the defending SEC champion after beating Alabama 28-7 in the conference title game in Atlanta. The Bulldogs also earned a first-round bye in the College Football Playoff, though their run ended with a 39-34 loss to Ole Miss in the CFP quarterfinals at the Sugar Bowl.
Texas’ 2025 season finished at 10-3, and the Longhorns came up just short of a CFP berth after regular-season losses to unranked Florida and Georgia. They closed the year with a 41-27 win over Michigan in the Citrus Bowl.
Both teams open the 2026 season on Sept. 5.
Georgia, led by Heisman Trophy contender Gunner Stockton, starts against Tennessee State. Texas, with Arch Manning at quarterback, opens against Texas State before hosting Ohio State on Sept.
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